Fact of the day

Information is the most powerful weapon.

Monday

Fact N°
1198

The youngest person on Forbes' 2008 list of billionaires is just 23.

Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard dropout and founder of social networking site Facebook, is just 23 and is a self-made billionaire, worth $1.5 billion, according to Forbes' latest list.
He's a year younger than two 24-year-olds on the list: the beautiful Hind Hariri, the youngest child of assassinated Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, whose net worth Forbes estimates at $1.1 billion; and Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis, whose German family dates back to the Holy Roman Empire. His net worth is around $2.3 billion.

Tuesday

Fact N°
1199

Contrary to popular opinion, in U.S. law, "transactional immunity" does not allow a witness to admit to any crime with impunity.

Federal law allows the granting of two types of immunity: the more common "use and derivative use" immunity, and the more extensive "transactional" immunity. The latter, according to law professor Byron L. Warnken, means that "the government has agreed not to prosecute the immunized individual for any crimes arising from that 'transaction,'" i.e., the case at hand.
Monica Lewinsky was famously granted transactional immunity by Ken Starr, which meant that, provided she testified truthfully and according to plan, she could not be prosecuted for any crimes she might have committed relating to the case. She could not, while on the stand, admit to an unrelated murder, for example, simply because she had the full immunity.
In order to be granted transactional immunity, a witness must first tell prosecutors what he will testify to. Should they decide not to grant the immunity, the information given in those negotiations can not be entered into evidence.

Wednesday

Fact N°
1200

Giving someone "the third degree" derives from Freemasonry.

Historically shrouded in secrecy, Freemasonry is a fraternal organization that promotes personal morality and charitable work within one's community. Members like to discourage calling it a secret society, preferring to call it an "esoteric society" that uses stone-working metaphors and involves obscure rites and practices.
In order to become a Master Mason in Freemasonry, a mason must first become an Entered Apprentice (first degree), then a Fellow Craft (second), and finally, Master Mason (third). In order to ascend the ranks, masons are believed to undergo a rigorous, ceremonial interrogation.

Thursday

Fact N°
1201

The dubious record for fastest time to type from one to one million is 16 years.

The Guinness Book of World Records can be an easy, enjoyable read, but it can also be a shocking and baffling exhibition of human pursuits and idiosyncrasies.
Australian Les Stewart, a partially paralyzed Vietnam vet, began typing the numbers between one and one million -- not the numbers themselves, but the words for the numbers -- in 1982. Almost 16 years and 20,000 sheets of paper later, he reached one million, earning himself a place in Guinness.
But here's the really shocking part: he did it all by typing with one finger.

Friday

Fact N°
1202

George Carlin hosted the very first Saturday Night Live.

Developed by Dick Ebersol and Lorne Michaels, SNL premiered on October 11, 1975. At the time, NBC controlled the late-night time slot throughout the week thanks to Johnny Carson and sought to grab the slot on Saturday nights as well.
It launched as NBC's Saturday Night but switched to Saturday Night Live when a Howard Cosell-hosted show on ABC with that name went off the air. Edgy comedian George Carlin, somewhat fresh off charges of obscenity in Wisconsin, was the ideal first host for the show's cast of raw, unknown talent.

Saturday

Fact N°
1203

The first 24-hour convenience store appeared in 1962.

7-Eleven stores began modestly in Dallas, Texas, in 1927 as Southland Ice Corporation, but they didn't adopt the name until after having operated with the "extended hours," from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., in the mid-1940s. The expansion to 24 hours came in the 1960s, not by choice but by necessity.
Following a 1962 football game one Saturday night, a 7-Eleven located near the University of Texas campus in Austin remained so busy that it never closed. A number of 7-Eleven stores across Texas and Nevada followed suit a few years later.

Sunday

Fact N°
1211

Eight foods account for 90% of all food allergies in humans.

Those eight foods are peanuts, cow's milk, eggs, soy, wheat, fish, shellfish and nuts from trees (walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, almonds, and cashews), with an allergy to peanuts being the most prevalent.
Although as many as one out of every three people believes they have a food allergy, in fact fewer than 3% of the population actually has one. Children have a higher rate of food allergies (as high as 8%) but they often outgrow them as they age.